Parade To Dedicate New Fire Trucks Celebration In Trumbauersville

Trumbauersville Fire Company is planning a parade and celebration Sept. 17 to dedicate two new pieces of equipment, as well as mark the 25th anniversary of the company's headquarters.

More than 50 pieces of equipment from area fire companies and ambulance units are expected to participate in the parade, which begins at 1 p.m.

The parade forms at Barrel Run Road and Vassar Drive in Trumbauersville, then moves west onto Creamery Road to Trumbauersville Road, where it turns east to Broad Street. The parade will next turn east on Tollgate Road, then south on Scholl School Road, west on Yankee Road and then north on Allentown Road to the fire station at 142 N. Main St.

Following the parade, ceremonies will be held to dedicate the 1987 engine and 1986 tanker which were recently obtained by the fire company. Representatives from area fire companies will push the two trucks into the bays of the Trumbauersville fire house.

The parade is the culmination of a three-year process which led to the purchase of the two trucks. The engine, which cost $133,000, was purchased through fire company fund-raisers as well as a low-interest loan backed by the state government for $50,000.

The tanker cost about $100,000, and was paid for through fund-raisers, the resale of the former Trumbauersville tanker, donations from the community and a $42,000 low-interest loan backed by the state.

The engine has been in use since April 1987 while the tanker went into operation in Trumbauersville seven months ago.

The event is also intended to mark the 25th anniversary of the fire company's building.

The Rev. Paul E. Bartlett, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Trumbauersville and chairman of the fire company's housing committee, said the organization spent much of its 82-year history in a nearby building on N. Main Street before moving into its current headquarters. The owner who obtained the old headquarters converted it into an apartment building but maintained the old fire company facade out front, he said.

"It's now an apartment building, but it still looks like a fire house," said Bartlett.